Relaxation

“Comparison is a waste of energy. Every individual is unique with unique talents. Find your passion and live your best life.” ~Lailah Gifty Akita We hear people using the term “Adulting” a lot lately, and we get it. Being a grown-up can be tedious and stressful. Daily tasks can get mundane. Sometimes we get so

“Keep your attention focused entirely on what is truly your own concern, and be clear that what belongs to others is their business and none of yours.” ~Epictetus Are you addicted to drama? I was, but I didn’t know it. I thought I was just responding to life, to what was happening. I really didn’t

“Smile, breathe, and go slowly.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh I felt everything, from my lower back pain flaring up to tightness in my jaw where I clinch and carry my stress. With my eyes still closed, I rolled my shoulders and repositioned the pillow under my butt. Five minutes had passed, and I had no idea

“You only see in others what you have in yourself.” ~Annette Noontil I now recognize, after observing painful patterns repeat many times, how things that trigger me are just lessons I need to learn that are often delivered through other people. The more painful the experience, the more I can see (in retrospect) I learned

“Life is a balance between what we can control and what we cannot. I am learning to live between effort and surrender.” ~Danielle Orner For too long, I felt myself pulled between two shores of my identity. On one side was my yoga teacher, meditator, healer identity—my tender side. On the other side was my

Depression and anxiety. Two words we hear often, but unless we have actually lived with them, we cannot come close to understanding the tremendous impact they can have on one’s quality of life. Depression and anxiety can make people feel as if they are worthless and better off dead. What a horrible plague. But it

“There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.” ~Ernest Hemingway Recently I was invited to listen to a recorded presentation about humility, and it literally rocked my world. As I listened intently, the words “complete and whole” popped into my head. And then

“Be the change you wish to see in the world.” ~Mahatma Gandhi As a teen, I was passionately idealistic about justice, love, and compassion. Reading the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, and other icons of justice inspired a desire to make a big change in the world. Older people would

“Letting go gives us freedom, and freedom is the only condition for happiness. If, in our hearts, we still cling to anything—anger, anxiety, or possessions—we cannot be free.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh Back in 2001, I was a freshman in college, and my saving grace from anxiety was a yoga class. More specifically, it was the

“What happens when people open their hearts? They get better.” ~Haruki Murakami What do you do when just can’t do it anymore? When the pain is too much? The discouragement is too much? The hoping and trying are too much? It’s not that you haven’t tried. You’ve been brave. You’ve been persistent. You’ve been soldiering on

“The sage perspective accepts every outcome and circumstance as an opportunity.” ~Shirzad Chamine No doubt you’re familiar with paranoia. In the modern world, it’s hard not to be. And as Joseph Heller wrote, just because you’re paranoid, it doesn’t mean they’re not after you. But there is another way to look at the world. What if

“Pain makes you stronger. Fear makes you braver. Heartbreak makes you wiser.” ~Unknown You wake up and check your phone expecting a “good morning” text, but there’s nothing there. Going through your day, everything feels quieter and there’s a gaping hole inside of you that nothing seems to fill. No matter what you do, you

“If you have nothing to be grateful for, check your pulse.” ~Unknown I couldn’t feel my legs. There wasn’t any pain, just this odd “sameness” of non-sensation. My body was frozen as I turned my eyes downward to scan down my nineteen-year-old body. Below my knees, my legs were splayed out in a very peculiar

“Glimpses of love and joy or brief moments of deep peace are possible whenever a gap occurs in the stream of thought.” ~Eckhart Tolle Eleven years ago I read a book that was life changing for me. It taught me something I never considered during the previous twenty-nine years—that I could change my thoughts. The

“The most difficult times for many of us are the ones we give ourselves.” ~Pema Chodron I’m on my phone, posting a photo of myself on Instagram. It’s a vulnerable shot—I’m holding my bare belly. I type in the caption “Accepting my body isn’t easy, but it’s worth it.” I mean this, but I also have

“Nothing changes unless you do.” ~Unknown In the fall of September 2017, after one of the longest summers of event planning I could have imagined, I quit my job. As I proudly exited the workforce to pursue my creative talents as a writer, I looked confident and excited on the outside. Yet, in that moment

“In our lives, change is unavoidable, loss is unavoidable. In the adaptability and ease with which we experience change lies our happiness and freedom.” ~Buddha The universe was conspiring against me, I was sure of it. By the time I was thirty-six, I had lost everything in life that I had set out to accomplish—my marriage,

“Don’t let the sadness of your past and the fear of your future ruin the happiness of your present.” ~Unknown Back in the day when I was a stay-at-home mom, “mindfulness” wasn’t even a word in my vocabulary. The only mindfulness I was aware of was my own mind-fullness just trying to navigate a busy,

“Our words create our world.” ~Rich Litvin I remember when I was about seven years old, shouting spitefully at my mum, ‘’I wish you were dead, I hate you!” Her jaw dropped in disbelief, and I knew my words had hurt her, which made my young heart heavy. I remember being fourteen years old asking

“Not all those who wander are lost.” ~J.R.R. Tolkien I will always remember those words. I had just decided to ditch my old life. Instead of pursuing a cushy career as a lawyer, I wanted to create a business as a freelance writer because it felt like a fulfilling thing to do. “You’ll never make

“Owning less is better than organizing more.” ~Joshua Becker There are lots of reasons to declutter—to free up space, to pare down belongings in advance of a move, to release any possessions that weigh you down emotionally, and to make room for new things to come into your life. And there’s another reason, though people

“To create more positive results in your life, replace ‘if only’ with ‘next time.” ~Celestine Chua I’m twenty-nine-and-a-half and I’ve finally committed to pursuing my dreams of becoming a singer/musician/songwriter, actress, and screenwriter. But most importantly, I finally feel allowed to live the life I want to live. I’ve struggled with anxiety and depression on

“Be the person who breaks the cycle. If you were judged, choose understanding. If you were rejected, choose acceptance. If you were shamed, choose compassion. Be the person you needed when you were hurting, not the person who hurt you. Vow to be better than what broke you—to heal instead of becoming bitter so you

“It’s not a matter of ‘letting go.’ You would if you could. Instead of ‘let it go’ we should probably say ‘let it be.’” ~Jon Kabat-Zinn I’m not good at heartbreak. I wrestle the circumstances, hate it, and can’t let go of the hope that the relationship could be transformed. Aren’t there people who do

“A friend is someone with whom you dare to be yourself.” ~Frank Crane Studies show that feeling connected to other people is a core human need. A sense of connection impacts not only on our mental health but also our physical well-being. It reduces our risk of disease and increases longevity. While the research is

“Forgive yourself for not knowing better at the time. Forgive yourself for giving away your power. Forgive yourself for past behaviors. Forgive yourself for the survival patterns and traits you picked up while enduring trauma. Forgive yourself for being who you needed to be.” ~Audrey Kitching “I can’t do this.” “Why do I look so

“Sometimes the easiest way to solve a problem is to stop participating in the problem.” ~ Jonathan Mead I don’t think I’m alone in having someone in my life whom I wish I could change. Someone I see struggling, who ignores or resents any lifesavers I send their way. I can clearly see how this

“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorns have roses.” ~Alphonse Karr “You should have told them. You should have told them you like it. They need to know people are happy there.” “I know I should have. But I didn’t want to seem insensitive or make anyone feel bad.” We

“The most fundamental harm we can do to ourselves is to remain ignorant by not having the courage to look at ourselves honestly and gently.” ~Pema Chödrön All my life I’ve chased after success, as I was encouraged to do from a very young age. When I was six, my father got me my first

“Before you assume, learn. Before you judge, understand. Before you hurt, feel. Before you say, think.” ~Unknown There we were on a Saturday afternoon doing such benign things as running errands at Costco, Trader Joes, and the post office. Excitement galore. Yet, it would be a day I came to a major realization, understanding something